What Is Authenticity? A Look at the Subtle Details of Things We Never Question

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In the age of AI and all manner of digital creations, the idea of requiring bank statements and the like seems rather absurd. You can get online and obtain a novelty bank statement quite easily. The same goes for utility bills and other types of documents that people need to prove financial stability.

Distinguishing real documentation from fake can be almost impossible with modern tools. With things like using a novelty bank statement generator, making logos and other typographic features that can easily be replicated to the point where they are indistinguishable from real versions.

Brands

Logos and the like are another thing that can be easily replicated these days. Some manufacturers are very good at recreating brand images in such a way that viewers would never guess that they are replicas.

Some subtle things that experts suggest looking for include:

• Print Quality and texture. High-quality goods tend to have embossed or debossed logos, and fakes often don’t.
• Consistency in fonts and typography usage. Look for things like the thickness of a font, spacing, and other subtle features.
• Color usage. There may be slight differences in color shades among fake brands that you can catch if you look carefully.

Despite all this, people are doing a better and better job of creating counterfeit brands, particularly with the use of AI-driven tools.

IDs

Many aspects of IDs can be extremely easy to replicate these days. Especially in situations where people only need to glance at an ID to check a person’s age or address, there is a fair likelihood that fake ones will pass the test.

People suggest looking for the following features to test authenticity:

• Fake IDs often have very shoddy lamination. Lamination should be smooth, even, and reasonably hard.
• Print quality. Print should be crisp and clear, and the size of text should be consistent.
• Different IDs have different kinds of security features. Some put holograms over pictures so that people can’t just throw a photo on top. Some have laser embossing on one or both sides of the ID, and others include microprinting or even UV features.

College diplomas

We would all like to come up with an instantaneous college diploma. Snap your fingers and get an instant education, right? Well in many respects this is possible. Not the information, but the paper. They say that there are clear indicators of fake diplomas:

• Low-quality paper. Real diplomas use high-quality textured paper that is clearly better than most.
• Odd seals. There are a lot of small details in seals that you would have to study carefully to create yourself. Shoddy fake diplomas might have strange-looking seals, or perhaps nine at all.
• Printed signatures. One of the hallmarks of earning a college diploma is meriting the signature of your president. If a diploma has a printed signature on it, this is usually a red flag.

How to change things

Even with all these supposed authenticity checks that we have, it is still extremely easy to fake most of these things. The idea of asking for a utility bill is almost laughable in this day and age. But there will continue to be a need for people to prove their financial, educational,  and personal histories. So how can we do better?

Actually, it shouldn’t be that hard. And some communities and national governments are already coming up with ways to do so.

Use biometrics

Biometric authentication is already being used for many types of things. Computer systems, airports, and other important processes are now using biometric data for access. This includes fingerprints, facial recognition, and other biometric features.

The use of biometric information can be useful for many reasons. Not only does it prove indisputably who you are, but it can be combined with other kinds of technological tools to make for useful and efficient means of storing all kinds of information. Actually, the governments of quite a few developing countries are using these electronic systems for everything from phone payments to voting to healthcare. We in the so-called “developed” world need to get on board with digitization as we are clearly falling behind.

Blockchain is helpful

Another thing that people should be doing more of is putting information on a blockchain. Blockchain provides a secure, transparent way for people and institutions to share data without the risk of loss, change, or theft.

Many entities from financial institutions to educational outfits and even art galleries are starting to use blockchain widely in their operations. It should be used for verification purposes, as well.

Let real be real

While it is true that overhauling the old system will take time and effort, it will be worth it in the end. The days of paper requirements should have already passed by now. With the shift, we will not only be saving the trees from destruction, but making life easier for people in all walks of life. And we can save the remaining paper for real artwork.